@astrolabia's banner p

astrolabia


				

				

				

					0 followers  

					follows 0 users  

					

					
joined 2022 September 05 01:46:57 UTC
				

				

				

				

				

				

					
				

				

				
				
				

				
User ID: 353


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
astrolabia


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				

				
				
				

				

					0 followers  

					follows 0 users  

					joined 2022 September 05 01:46:57 UTC
				


				
					

					
No bio...

				

				

				

				

				

					

					

					
					
					

					
User ID: 353


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
‎

			

				
				

					Hour
					Day
					Week
					Month
					
					All
				

			


			
‎

			

	
	

	 Hot Bump Bottom New Old Controversial Comments
	



		

	






	

		
		

		
		
	

	

  







		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 11, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


taking away rights or privileges or respect or acknowledgement or etc. from people who have spent a long hard time and earning it, and trying to do that ussually involves a lot of kicking and screaming and destruction




You would think so, but didn't we just watch this happen to straight white men, and Europeans more generally, with basically no effective pushback?  Some days it seems as simple as


    

  1. Comedians joke about it
    2. 

  2. Thinkpieces recontextualize it
    3. 

  3. Comedians mock the stupidest examples of pushback
    4. 

  4. A few people get cancelled for pushing back
    5. 



And soon after, countless formal and informal corporate, academic, personal, and government policies change to enforce the new policy.  In a way it's impressive how liberal democracies can coordinate to change which groups they marginalize without much violence or state-directed propaganda.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 22, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
One of the scariest things from my point of view is watching some Jewish progressives I know choosing, after a period of internal struggle, to take the side of Hamas. I could see that something had to give when they started being attacked by what they viewed as their own side. And I would have been surprised to see them abandon pretty much their whole progressive social networks and worldview under any circumstances, even to defend themselves. But it seems like many of them chose to thread the needle by simply becoming "one of the good ones".


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 11, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I love Nietzsche, and maybe I missed the point, but on dealing with the death of god it seemed like he mostly said "Wouldn't it be awesome if someone came along and gave us new values?".  Kind of like "my plan is to come up with a plan".


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 1, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Canada has a much larger native population than the USA, about 5% of the total population now, who have similar life outcomes to america's blacks.  They also receive a huge amount of bespoke welfare.  So I think that's some evidence against your theory.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 30, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I think that's why they required the defectors to bring a very expensive MiG with them.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 29, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


To these privacy warriors in the US, I'm sure we seem a quick slide of the slippery slope away from being targeted for our Chud/Woke beliefs with no time to prepare before it's too late.




What do you think preparing looks like, if not fighting for civil liberties and maintaining our ability to coordinate politically without being targeted?  To me it looks like you'd mock anyone fighting government overreach right up until it's too late.


Do you think those murdered by their governments in the 20th century had "time to prepare", but simply chose to not to?  Do you remember the borders being closed with no warning during covid?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
It's really, really hard to pin down a grown man in a way that he can't get out, hit you, kick you, bite you, etc., without hurting him.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 3, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I agree with most of your post, but isn't the default "For You" tab on Twitter already the "TikTok of text"?  It is also happy to show you viral posts from people you aren't following, and also to not show you boring posts from people you do subscribe to.  Famously, accounts with millions of followers that people feel like they should follow, but whose posts don't get much activity, often have many fewer views per post than a hit from an unknown.


So it seems like Twitter (and to a lesser extent, facebook) is already adopting the TikTok strategy.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 15, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


If the administration of airlines, air traffic control, pilot training and so on was ruthlessly meritocratic, then I'd agree with you that there'd be no difference in skill between black or female pilots and white male pilots, since they would all have passed the same tests and be above a certain benchmark.




Nitpick - this still won't be true as long as there is noise in the tests or variability in skill above the bar.  The groups with higher average performance before the cutoff will also dominate the top percentiles after the cutoff, and be less likely to be a false positive under noisy tests.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 16, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I read the article, and was surprised to find I agreed with most of what she said.  Every one of her opinions is about as manosphere/redpilled/motte-ish as you could imagine being printed in the NYT in 2023.


The new book being discussed is about how modern feminism has not just failed men, but effectively forbidden productive discussion of their problems.  Bravo!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 8, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


knowing he was crazy




Seems like you're vindicating Maiq by holding this against them.  If they had never seeked professional help, they could have argued that they didn't know he was crazy.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 25, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Interesting thesis.  Perhaps this is part of why some people find things like kids, homeownership, getting degrees, getting promoted at work as meaningful, since those all fit in between "easy" and "almost impossible".


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 22, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


the sudden flurry of "Oh, Trump wasn't that bad"-type statements from figures who previously criticized him reeks of groveling and bet-hedging




At this point I wonder how much of this is due to fashion.  If even the most uncool members of your group try to rally people by bashing trump, your only options to distinguish yourself are to be even more hysterical (which is getting kind of played out) or play the nuance card.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 24, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I mostly disagree.  Almost everything in the world can be influenced to some degree or with some probability.  If you dedicated the next year to it, you could probably shut down that puppy mill, or somehow make them a little less profitable.


Picking battles is absolutely necessary, and happens whether you choose it or not.  I think that's a better approach than trying to divide the world into "under my control" vs "not".


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 11, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


The reason why white straight men aren't allowed to organize as a group




It sounds like you're agreeing with me?




they're not an actual cultural group




As opposed to the group "Asians and Pacific Islanders", or the group of all black people worldwide, including Pygmies and Kanye West?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 24, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I'm glad you wrote what you did.  I too was supremely disappointed by Eliezer and Scott's bending of the epistemic knee.  Though it probably would have meant burning tons of social capital for both of them to have approached the issue with their usual candor.


Perhaps we just have to accept that each prophet can only smash idols until he has enough to lose personally, then he inevitably becomes a new idolator, or gets cancelled.  I'm trying to think of counter-examples.  Sir Thomas More seems like a great example of someone who held their principles and was cancelled because of it.  Maybe Hume stood tall until the end?  Dawkins?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 15, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I agree it was a spineless, worst-of-both-worlds kind of apology.  It was clearly disingenuous for a polymath like him to claim that he's not qualified to even evaluate the evidence about HBD.  It was worse than normal straight-shooting autism.


That said, he's a great thinker when he's in his element.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 9, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
So they'll eat their own, but then continue to operate mostly the same?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 18, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


With more acts like this there will be more pressure to limit immigration.




Maybe it's just learned helplessness, but I can't imagine the Canadian federal government ever reducing immigration.  It's never happened in my lifetime.  Even when they shut the borders due to covid, they made up for it by granting free permanent residency to almost all foreigners who happened to be working in Canada.


I'm not saying it's impossible, just that my naive model of the world would have predicted a reduction years ago, and I don't have a good model to replace it with.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 11, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I'm curious about what makes your life a living hell these days.  I went through a similar "fun believing period" (not as intense as yours) that was very rich and rewarding.  And losing that life was painful.  But I guess now I see it partly as withdrawl from a "spiritual superstimulus".


I'm sure you've heard the arguments that God is perfectly shaped to fill the hole in our hearts because the memes evolved to.  Kind of like how porn is optimized, now that I think of it.  In any case, after a while I re-equilibriated emotionally, and now moral non-realism is just priced in, and doesn't depress me any more than say, being mortal and fallible does.  Plus, I don't have to hear terrible philosophical arguments from people I otherwise respect as often.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 21, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I've heard that in the Israeli Defence force, young conscripts are generally treated with kid gloves (e.g. not ordered around much or expected to suffer) to the point where boot camp is referred to as "summer camp", apparently because even the children of the powerful have to do it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 11, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Just never be an undesirable in the eyes of those with power.




I spent a while asking my well-educated peers why they were supporting censorship and politicization while also claiming to loathe our local conservative government, warning that the shoe could easily be on the other foot someday.  My leading hypothesis is that they (unconsciously) are following a strategy of "endorse whatever social movement is clearly ascendant" in a way that's almost completely blind to the content of the movement, even being blind to self-interest to a large extent.  So they legitimately don't expect to suffer from censorship in that setting - they'll simply switch sides, and maybe push for an exception to the new ideology for themselves.  It makes sense, and seems close to the optimal strategy if you can't actually control social movements.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 29, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
What do you mean by "ground truth"?  I personally don't make many sacrifices for privacy or civil liberty's sake, but I'm grateful when others do.


Where I live I already don't have freedom of speech or association, and the government recently froze the bank accounts of protesters whom the state-run news agency had already demonized.


Again, how do you think anyone ends up in a gas chamber?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 30, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
To be fair, when I started learning math + stats, I found the use of greek letters intimidating and confusing, especially rarely-used ones like ξ.  Of course there's nothing wrong with them besides their unfamiliarity, but I try to start with English letters in my own math writing and only reach for greek letters when I'm running out of those.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 22, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


looking for self-actualization that will never arrive




Seems like it does arrive for them, in the sense that they get to be a part of a change in zeitgeist. I imagine it feels pretty fulfilling to get in early on the next big political thing.